No era in American history has been more fascinating to Americans, or more critical to the ultimate destiny of the United States, than the colonial era. Between the time that the first European settlers established a colony at Jamestown in 1607 through the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the outlines of America's distinctive political culture, economic system, social life, and cultural patterns had begun to emerge. Designed to complement the high school American history curriculum as well as undergraduate survey courses, "Colonial America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History" captures it all: the people, institutions, ideas, and events of the first three hundred years of American history. While it focuses on the thirteen British colonies stretching along the Atlantic, Colonial America sets this history in its larger contexts. Entries also cover Canada, the American Southwest and Mexico, and the Caribbean and Atlantic world directly impacting the history of the thirteen colonies. This encyclopedia explores the complete early history of what would become the United States, including portraits of Native American life in the immediate pre-contact period, early Spanish exploration, and the first settlements by Spanish, French, Dutch, Swedish, and English colonists. This monumental five-volume set brings America's colonial heritage vibrantly to life for today's readers. It includes: thematic essays on major issues and topics; detailed A-Z entries on hundreds of people, institutions, events, and ideas; thematic and regional chronologies; hundreds of illustrations; primary documents; and a glossary and multiple indexes. Grade 9 Up–Colonial America is defined as the years between the arrival of European colonists in 1607 at Jamestown and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that recognized American independence. The introduction to this set reviews various historical schools of thought and their changing interpretations of American Colonial history. Seven opening essays provide an overview of major issues and the more than 450 signed, alphabetical entries that follow. The articles cover places, events, institutions, ideas, women, and minority peoples. Entries vary in length and are subdivided for easy understanding; each one ends with see also references and a short bibliography. A strength of this set is the chronologies, which are arranged by theme (Gender Issues, Science and Technology) and geographically by colony. The final volume includes the text of 60 primary-source documents, each with an introduction that describes its contents and significance. A glossary and listings of primary and secondary sources complete the set. The indexes are uncommonly thorough. A series of maps is located at the beginning of each book and average-quality, captioned black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout. A substantial complement to history curriculums, important for beginners and advanced learners. –Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. *Starred Review* Colonial America fills a gap in the spectrum of colonial reference sources. It presents a bird's-eye view of life in the original colonies, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Canada with entries "designed to complement the high-school American history curriculum as well as undergraduate survey courses." It is more manageable for high-school and undergraduate students than Scribner's scholarly Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies (1994) yet more appropriate for adult nonspecialists than that work's offshoot, North America in Colonial Times: An Encyclopedia for Students (1998), or Grolier's Colonial America (1998). As stated in the introduction, its purpose is "to remedy the disorganization of historiography of colonial life," and it "attempts to encompass the sweep of contemporary writing and research." Although their professors may relish the scholarship of the topically arranged Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies , students will find it less frustrating to browse Colonial America's seven broad thematic essays ("Gender Issues," "Race and Ethnicity," etc.) and more than 450 alphabetically arranged articles on topics such as Alcohol, Food and diet , Inns and taverns ( public houses ), and Piracy. Articles are signed and include bibliographies of older classics as well as works published since 1990. Emphasis is on Native American and African American settlement and the contributions of women and the less privileged ( Peddlers, Prostitution ). Atlantic Ocean exemplifies the set's incorporation of recent colonial scholarship on the ocean's importance in many aspects of colonization. More than 120 articles are biographical. Articles on the original colonies and other geographic entities ( Acadia, New Orleans ) enhance the encyclopedia's usefulness for state and regional history